Making 5 Dovetail Guide in 15 Minutes

Dovetail is a useful joint although it's hard to master. But with a dovetail guide, the task will become much easier. Today, I gonna show you an extremely fast way of making your customized dovetail guide. That is making 5 pieces in 15 minutes (glue setting time not included).

You can check the video first if you want. Be sure to open the CAPTION function below the video. If you like it, please give me a thumb up.

Step 1: Material & Tools

Materials

30cm *10cm * 2cm dimensioned hardwood

magnets

tools

Miter saw with angle cut function (recommend)

hand drill

table saw

Step 2: Cut the Wood Into Two Piece and Glue Them Together

First, you need to rip the wood into two pieces. One piece needs to be 2cm wider than the other.

Then, you can put the thinner one on top of the wider one and glued them together. Make sure that these two pieces are perpendicular to each other.

Check the angle with a square and also clean the excess glue while it's still wet.

Step 3: The Math Work

Now it's time to do some math.

You need to calculate the angle of the dovetail.

Arctan(1/8) is almost 7degree.

Step 4: Cut One Side of the Dovetail Guide

Set the miter saw to the angle and cut one side.

You can cut it on the table saw if you have a crosscut jig.

Step 5: Cut the Other Side

Don't change the miter saw angle! it makes the cut not accurate.

You only need to flip the piece. Then you can cut the other side.

This ensures both sides of the guide have exactly the same angle.

Repeat this process until you get all the pieces with the different ratio you want.

I only cut 5 pieces which are 1:5 1:6 1:7 1:8 and 90 degrees.

After that, I lightly sanded the surface to remove the burr.

Step 6: Drill Holes on Side of the Guide

I'm a right-hand user so I only drill the right side.

The diameter of the hole should be the same as the magnets.

Step 7: Glued in the Magnets

I used epoxy to finish the task. Make sure the magnets don't extrude.

After that, I slightly sanded the surface to remove the excess glue.

Step 8: Finish With Linseed Oil and Paste Wax

I Finished the piece with linseed oil and paste wax. And also put my maker stamp on the top.

Step 9: Testing

Now, it's time to test the dovetail guide

Step 10: Done!

Very good!

If you like this build, please check my other works on my Youtube channel.

6 Discussions

Actually, I don't think the specific angle matter. What really matters is keeping that consistency. If the pin and tail share the same angle or ratio, it can fit together easily. Try with some scrap pieces first.